“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…”​ – Dr. Seuss

Learning About Different CulturesOur class has been reading about many different cultures during the past 5 weeks. As we have learned about these diverse people, students were asked to learn about their own family history, cultures, and favorite foods by talking to their parents or grandparents. Students will have the chance to create family trees, memory books, Google Slides, maps, and more to go along with this unit. They have also found out some family food favorites to share. Below you will find our collection of recipes, and we hope you will try them and enjoy them!

Penguin HabitatsOur students were using what they learned about heat and light to build homes for penguins. Their goal was to build a model home that would no bigger than 15 cm x 15 cm, use approved supplies, and make sure that the home would allow the penguin to stay cool inside. Students put their knowledge to the test, made designs, then built their homes. Little ice penguins went into the houses. The penguins were weighed every half hour to see if they were getting smaller. Our winning time was almost 4 hours keeping the penguins alive and cool. Tessa and Brady tied for the longest time! Everyone had fun making great designs, deciding what was successful about them, and then reflecting about how they would improve them! ​ WAY TO GO DESIGNERS!!!!!

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Class DojoOur classroom uses Class Dojo to help students set individual goals and track progress. Students also like to use it to work towards rewards, but it is not used as punishment. Families typically like knowing if their child is turning in homework, staying on task, showing PRIDE, or if they are having trouble with self control. Keep in mind, Class Dojo is a simply a snap shot in time, but that trends are sometimes helpful to realign goals! We also use it as a tool to improve learning with lessons in "Growth Mindset." Click on the Class Dojo banner to the left to see a short video on how it works. If you had an account with Class Dojo last year, it should connect with our class this year. If you did not have an account, I will send instructions home during our first full week of school for you. You are not required to sign up or connect to this app. I do post special events and reminders from time-to-time. If you are only interested in school delays and closings, I send these out on an app called "REMIND" (information below). The school also has a phone call/text notification for these circumstances, so you are not required to sign up with REMIND if you are satisfied with the other notifications.

Xtra Math & Moby MaxOur class uses Xtra Math & Moby Max to help students with fact practice in our classroom. These programs help students to learn facts along with building their speed and knowledge of facts. Students can access these math activities just we do in our classroom by going to our class webpage, selecting the program desired, and then logging in with your student username and pin (Student Usernames and Pins are kept on homework folders). The nice feature to these programs is that parents can also log in and check on progress. These links test the student and then moves them through adding, subtracting, multiplication, and division facts based on the child's performance. I truly appreciate it matching student needs and I think parents will appreciate knowing exactly what their child knows or needs to know. Check it out!Our class code is: HYSMRJZK if you need to set up your account at home.

REMIND 101Classroom Text Messages and email notifications

I try to keep our classroom webpage updated daily for families to check out homework each day, projects, photos, and other events. I also send home weekly news notes, progress packets, and homework logs to help everyone feel connected to what is happening with your child. However, I know that my cell phone has become a way for me to connect with the world in countless ways while always being on the go, so I thought occasional text messages about upcoming events, tests, project due dates, weather, etc. could be helpful to families on the go too. If you have a text package as part of you cell phone plan and want to receive updates just sign up. It is free to sign up, you do not need a smart phone, and I will not bother you with daily text messages. If you prefer email, it is also an option as noted below.

How to sign up for Mrs. Strycker's Mrs. Strycker's 3rd Grade Classroom notifications:

Text @mrsstryc to (571) 421-2513 or Emailmrsstryc@mail.remind101.com

Remind101 Inc., a safe way for teachers to communicate with students and parents.

Elementary Books Read Aloud OnlineHere are a few links for online books that are available to various reading levels that John Wolf from Indiana Literacy Liaisons shared.Children's Storybooks Online Many wonderful free childrens books are available to read at Children's Storybooks Online. Stories span age ranges from preschool to young adults.

SillyBooks Animated children's books, music, puzzles and children's games that teach young children to read and write.

Storynory Storynory has published a new audio story every week since November 2005. Our lead storyteller is Natasha whose lovely voice will charm and beguile you. We draw on fairy tales by theBrothers Grimm or Han Christian Anderson. We seek out unusual stories from around the world.

Signed Stories Hi! This is your website. It’s got lots of great books to see in sign language and subtitles. Hearing family and friends can listen to the stories too. You can all watch together! We’ll add more books. So keep coming back to see what’s new. Tell your friends … click on the windows… explore…and have FUN!

Just Books Read Aloud This site was specifically compiled to be ad free, clutter free, let children follow links to unintended locations free. The site is also JAWS compatible for visually impaired parents and students.